Poland requests arrest of Swede for Auschwitz theft

A Polish court has issued a European arrest warrant for a Swede it says was behind the theft in December of the "Arbeit macht frei" sign above the entrance to the former Nazi death camp of Auschwitz.

Poland has arrested five local men it believes stole the sign and cut it into three pieces, but says the mastermind of the crime was a Swedish citizen.

The theft caused international outrage, especially in Israel and among Jewish groups.

Up to 1.5 million people, mostly Jews, died at Auschwitz during Nazi Germany's wartime occupation of Poland. The site became a museum after the war and the motto, which means "Work sets you free", became an enduring symbol of the Holocaust.

"We have issued a European arrest warrant for Anders Hoegstroem," an official of the court in the southern Polish city of Krakow said.

The move obliges a member state of the 27-nation European Union to arrest the man if he is found and to hand him over to the Polish authorities. Sweden and Poland are both EU members.

The metal sign is now being repaired. Officials say a replica now topping the entrance gate may remain there permanently as the original could prove too fragile to withstand the varying weather conditions.

Last week, Polish and Israeli leaders and the education ministers of nearly 30 nations attended events at Auschwitz marking the 65th anniversary of the camp's liberation by Soviet troops.

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